Driving Employee Engagement with an ESN: Myth or Reality?

Driving Employee Engagement with an ESN: Myth or Reality?

Driving Employee Engagement with an ESN: Myth or Reality?2017-03-062017-03-06https://www.panagenda.com/panagenda/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/panagenda-Logo297x112.pngpanagendahttps://img.panagenda.com/panagenda/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/adoption_blogpost_1.jpg200px200px

Hi my name is Xaver. I have just started working at panagenda and my key responsibilities include the design, development and implementation of an inspiring, multi-tiered learning hub for panagenda’s data analytics solutions. Before I joined panagenda, I was head of academy at a very successful global IT company for ten years. It’s thrilling therefore, to be designing a new program and although it’s not a completely new task to me, I love the challenge.

It’s time to change

What is completely new to me however, is the extent of collaboration. All projects, materials, ideas, knowledge and sources are shared and accessible to all colleagues in IBM Connections, regardless of their geographic location. As such, each employee has an insight into the activities of their colleagues. This kind of cooperation promises many advantages, for instance encouraging people to share ideas, increase in productivity and innovation, accelerating time-to-market and finally, engaging people. Nevertheless, I was very skeptical whether I myself would somehow benefit from this when I first started.

Up to 30 % faster

I have to admit though, that only after a couple of weeks I made some incredible experiences. My projects are truly being completed much faster than usual. Some of my goals were reached up to 30% faster than I had planned! It feels just like in a movie. Whilst driving the DeLorean DMC-12, team collaboration delivers the electrifying 1.21 gigawatts fuelling the Flux Capacitor. Making the training design and development process transparent to all staff, really opened up the creative potential of people and greatly accelerated the pace of development.

We live an open knowledge sharing culture

But how is that possible? What are we doing differently to other companies? Here is a snapshot of the four top aspects.

We live sharing culture. All colleagues and moreover all managers, are encouraged to use IBM Connections to share their own information, ideas and projects whilst also contributing to those of others. Two adoption experts constantly make sure that the platform is used intensively by all colleagues and create a culture that embraces open communication and respect.

We analyze insights daily. This is super important. Real-time data as well as trend charts are the key to success. Based on this data, our adoption experts know exactly what measures need to be taken to improve productivity, increase employee engagement and shape the collaboration culture. Analytics help them drive adoption and improve the decision-making process. It’s simply not possible to grow adoption without valuable insights. And yes, ConnectionsExpert allows for this to be done fast, efficiently and reliably.

We share success stories regularly. We respect that fact that everyone needs encouragement at times and nothing inspires and motivates us more than to see that something really works. This is why we share our personal success stories with the whole organization, as I am right now. Sharing success is a great motivator and therein lies the biggest opportunity that a social network can offer – engagement.

We check our pulse regularly. Regular pulse surveys helps management understand what is necessary to further improve employee engagement, create an even more positive company culture and increase retention and of course, profits.

The social program is still growing, but the benefits of this structured approach are very clear. It is obviously a powerful approach as it reinforces adoption and engagement. Tangible results and our adoption dashboard metrics prove that it is sustainable.

Personally I find this to be an awesome experience and I am eager to continue this journey.